France’s Les Arcs Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 16th edition of its mountaintop movie marathon, taking place from December 14-21, 2024.
Eight European films will vie for the festival’s Crystal Arrow awards.
They include Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap, a comedy about titular west Belfast hip-hop trio that is Ireland’s entry for the best international feature Oscar race and leads the Bifa 2024 nominations, Runar Runarsson’s Icelandic drama When the Light Breaks that opened this year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard, and Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon about a former Austrian martial arts master hired to train a wealthy Jordanian family that won a special jury prize in Locarno.
Austria is also represented with Bernard Wenger’s Peacock, a biting comedy about human relationships. Bogdan Muresanu’s The Year That Never Came about the fall of Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu that premiered in Venice’s Horizons, Saulé Bliuvaité’s Lithuanian teen drama Toxic that won the Golden Leopard and the top prize for first feature in Locarno, Lilja Ingolfdottir’s Norwegian divorce drama directorial debut Loveable and Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman’s Italian family drama Vittoria round out the competition.
French writer-director Audrey Diwan is the head of the feature jury alongside actors Pio Marmai and Sofiane Zermani, author Delphine de Vigan and Icelandic composer Herdís Stefánsdóttir. Last year’s Crystal Arrow top prize for best film went to Lithuanian filmmaker Marija Kavtaradze’s Slow.
Cold comforts
French actress Karine Viard and Italian auteur Matteo Garrone have been named guests of honour whose careers will be feted with screenings of a selection of their films.
Iceland has been named this year’s country of honour with nine features and 9 shorts from the territory set to screen for local audiences.
The festival will open with Carine Tardieu’s The Ties That Bind Us (L’Attachement) that world premiered in Venice’s Horizons section. It follows an independent feminist librarian who has opted not to become a mother but bonds with her neighbours: a young single father and his child. It features a starry local cast including this year’s jury member Marmai, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Raphael Quenard.
The gala screenings include Muriel and Delphine Coulin’s A Quiet Son that won Vincent Lindon the best acting prize when it premiered in competition in Venice earlier this year, Anne-Sophie Bailly’s My Everything and Lawrence Valin’s Little Jaffna, Laura Piani’s Toronto breakout romantic comedy Jane Austen Wrecked My Life and Baya Kasmi’s feelgood family drama Mikado.
A trio of features previously presented at the festival’s Industry Village are also screening: Charlène Favier’s portrait of a modern revolutionary leader Oxana, Camille Perton’s Arenas set in the competitive football world and Anatomy of a Fall star Samuel Theis’ third feature Je Le Jure.
Additionally, the Playtime sidebar is screening Andrea Arnold’s Bird and Mahdi Fleifel’s To a Land Unknown, among other titlesm and the ‘Oscar au Ski’ strand that is showcasing films submitted for the best international feature Oscar, including Belgian entry Julie Keeps Quiet and Italy’s submission, Maura Delpero’s Vermiglio.
The Industry Village will run from December 14-17 and will encompass the Music Village and a slew of concerts for mountaintop musical interludes popular among visiting talent and industry professionals.
Les Arcs will also zoom in on the industry with its “Sommet des Arcs” programming bringing together 300 professionals for distribution-focused workshops and exchanges geared towards innovation in the sector.
Les Arcs competition 2024
Kneecap dir. Rich Peppiatt (Ire)
Moon dir. Kurdwin Ayub (Aus)
When The Lights Breaks dir. Runar Runarsson (Ice)
Peacock dir. Bernhard Wenger (Aus)
The Year That Never Came dir. Bodgan Muresanu (Rom)
Loveable dir. Lilja Ingolfdottir (Nor)
Vittoria dir. Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman (It)
Toxic dir. Saulé Bliuvaité (Lith)
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